Ross Williams prepares to do battle… 

Windsurfing elite is coming to Silvaplana
 
+++ Silvaplana, St. Moritz (Switzerland), August 10th 2007.

Today (10 August) the Windsurfing Euro-Cup kicks off at the STIMOROL
ENGADINWIND.COM mega event in Silvaplana (Switzerland). Over 50 competitors
are pre-registered for the event. Among them are several Champions and other
top riders of the racing and slalom disciplines.

The list of the favourites is lead by Steve Allen (AUS-0, Tabou, Gaastra)
from Australia, the current Formula Windsurfing World Champion. Last weekend
he has won the Windsurfing Euro-Cup in Leba (Poland). Especially in light
winds there are very few who are able to match up with him. This may be a
significant advantage in the thin air of Switzerland 1.800 metre above the
sea level.

A serious threat for the Australian may be the Formula Windsurfing European
Champion of 2006 Ross Williams (GBR-83, Tabou, Gaastra) from Great Britain.
Last year he was able to triumph in the slalom and to get second in racing
at the Engadinwind.com. He has proven already in the past that he is able to
beat all the other top racer and is ready to do so again if the chances are
there.

The Argentinian Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3, F2, Neil Pryde) also made his
way to Silvaplana to fight for the triumph and a share of the prize money.
Last weekend at the EC in Leba he had a spectacular head-to-head fight with
Steve Allen who was only able to pass him in the final race.

Italy is represented by the Italian Champion Andrea Cucchi (ITA-1,
Starboard, Point-7) and the Italian Youth Champion Alberto Menegatti
(ITA-456, F2, North Sails). Poland arrives with an impressivly strong fleet:
Kuba Guzdek (POL-13, F2, Gaastra), RS-X Vice World Champion Przemek
Miarczinski (POL-126, Starboard, Neil Pryde) and Hubert Mokrzycki (POL-25,
Tabou, Gaastra) are all candidates for a top 10 finish. The Danish fleet is
led by the current leader of the FW World ranking Jesper Vesterström
(DEN-111, Starboard, Neil Pryde). From Germany the current number 2 in
racing, Vincent Langer (GER-122, Starboard, Simmer Style).

But the list of potential podium candidates is much longer and it is
difficult to make a forecast who will win the event as the level of the top
racers is very close this year. Especially the Swiss national heroes hope to
take advantage of their knowledge of the specific conditions here on the
Lake Silvaplana. Their team is lead by Karin Jaggi (SUI-14, F2, North Sails)
and Daniel Äberli (SUI-96 , F2, North Sails). But the biggest surprise may
be the participation of the 36-times Windsurfing World Champion Björn
Dunkerbeck who just changed to sail for Switzerland with the new sail number
SUI-11.

The Euro-Cup at the ENGADINWIND.COM festival features the discipline Racing
(Formula Windsurfing). For Racing the competitors are allowed to register
one board and three sails. Competitons can be run from not less then 7 knots
as the racers use sails up to 12,5 m2 and boards with a maximum width of 100
cm. The whole fleet will start together so that we can expect some
spectacular situations on the course. The total prize money of the event is
EUR 20.000,00.

 
Tomorrow the skippers meeting is scheduled for 11:00 with the first possible
start at 12:00. The ENGADINWIND.COM will last until Saturday, August 12th.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The official website of the event is www.engadinwind.com. The official
website of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup series with more information is
www.euro-cup.org. Besides the reports and the results you will also find a
live ticker on www.euro-cup.org.